Overview

• Alex Chiu, a 41-year-old ski mountaineer from Seattle, fell unroped from Squirrel Point on the West Buttress route on June 2.
• Chiu’s two climbing partners witnessed the fall and descended to Camp 1 to summon help after failing to locate him on the exposed Peters Glacier face.
• High winds and accumulating snow prevented ground and aerial teams from reaching the site until Wednesday morning, when rangers recovered his body and transferred it to the state medical examiner.
• Approximately 500 climbers are on Mount McKinley during the peak climbing season, underscoring the hazards on North America’s tallest peak.
• The National Park Service has opened an investigation into the accident, which adds to a series of fatal falls on the West Buttress route since 1980.